Posts by Erik, Teen Librarian

STEAM at Home: Roto Copter

Learn how to build and fly a roto copter. Materials: Paper template Scissors Paper clip Masking tape Rubberband Spindle Instructions: Cut out the template, then cut along the line between boxes 2-3. Fold up along the dashed line over box one. Take a paperclip and slip it over the fold of box one, and tape the top of the paperclip, so that the bottom of the paperclip makes a loop. Next fold boxes 2 and 3 along the dashed line to make a small rectangle with a loop of the paperclip sticking out the bottom. Next cut ¼” below the
Read More

Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: Build-a-Bridge Challenge

Try to build a bridge using only toothpicks and marshmallows. What if you don’t have toothpicks and/or marshmallows? Improvise! Use spaghetti and clay. Materials: small marshmallows toothpicks two objects that are the same height Getting Started: Set your objects 10”-12” apart. Start thinking about your bridge’s design. What shapes can you create with these materials that will hold a structure together to span the traverse between your objects? Try sketching your design on paper to see what it might look like. Does it look sturdy? Take out your marshmallows (try not to eat them all) and toothpicks and start building.
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Edge Read Aloud

La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, by Philip Pullman Young Adult Librarian will be reading short sections from La Belle Sauvage starting Monday, June 1st at 2:00 p.m. on Instagram and Wednesday, June 3 at 9:30 p.m. on Facebook. These videos will stay up for 24 hours so be sure to watch them before they are taken down. The Book of Dust is a prequel series to Pullman’s His Dark Materials books, which is now a series on HBO. Lyra Belacqua is just a baby when Malcolm Polstead finds a mysterious object with a cryptic message. Malcolm
Read More

Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Virtual Tabletop Games

Do you miss playing board games and card games with your friends at the Library? Join Librarians Ashley and Erik on Monday, June 1 & June 15 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. to play tabletop games virtually. We use the platform boardgamearena.com to play the games, and have a conversation on Zoom. To join us, first create a free account on boardgamearena.com and login. Make a note of your username. Sign onto the Zoom link to talk to Ashley and Erik so you can tell us what games you would like to play, get instructions on how to play, and chat with
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: Storm in a Glass

Make a really cool looking storm in a glass, and learn a little about clouds. Materials: Tall Glass Water Shaving Cream Food Coloring Small Bowl Spoon Instructions: Fill the glass half full with water. Add a thick layer of shaving cream on top so that the glass is about ¾ full. Smooth down the top of the shaving cream so that it is nice and flat. Mix the food coloring with a half cup of water in a small bowl. Using a spoon, pour the food coloring and water mixture on top of the shaving cream. Keep going one spoonful
Read More

Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Teen Book Review: Sparrow

Below you'll find a book review of a new title submitted by teens in the Edge. Sparrow by Mary Cecilia Jackson Available as an eBook on OverDrive. Review: This book is about a young ballerina who goes by Sparrow that dates a very popular kid named Tristan in school. She can not believe that this popular kid is into her and enjoys it very much. However, Tristan has a very dark side. Every time he gets angry at Sparrow, he abuses her. Not knowing that she does not deserve this kind of treatment due to the fact that she was
Read More

Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: Lava Lamp

Make a Lava Lamp using materials found around your home. Then experiment with it. Materials: Clear glass cup Water Vegetable oil Food dye Alka Seltzer Light – flashlight or lamp Procedure: Fill the glass ¼ full with water. Add some food dye. Fill the rest of the glass with vegetable oil (but not all the way to the top). Break up the Alka Seltzer tablet into 4 pieces. Drop 1 piece of Alka Seltzer into the glass and see what happens. Once it has worked, turn off the rest of the lights in the room and place the glass over
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Virtual Table Top Gaming Programs

Do you miss playing fun games with your friends at the library? Join Ashley and Erik from the Trove and the Edge to play virtual table top games! Before our first program, please have your parent or caregiver help you create a free online account on boardgamearena.com. Note: Boardgamearena.com does have a for-pay premium service. Please take care when creating your account to not incur any unwanted charges. We will host the game on Zoom and play the games on boardgamearena.com. We’ll play Kingdomino, Solo, and Sushi Go! For children and teens in grades 4 and up! Our first session
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, and Library News.

3D Printers Donated to Hospital

Dr. Stephen Erosa from St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers reached out to Westchester libraries with a call to action. Dr. Erosa has started a 3D printer farm at the hospital and asked Westchester Libraries to contribute their machines. He will be printing out pieces for face guards for hospital staff and essential workers. The White Plains Public Library stepped up and donated its two 3D printers, the Ultimaker 2+ extended and the Flashforge Creator Pro, along with six rolls of filament to help out the cause. On Thursday, Librarian Erik Carlson picked up the equipment and met with Dr.
Read More

Categories: Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, and Library News.

Sch-EDGE-uled Videos

Do you miss the Edge as much as we do? Librarian Erik Carlson has been bringing a bit of the Edge to Instagram and Facebook every day, giving you a daily dose of the Edge while at home. Follow @theedgewppl on Instagram where you’ll find a daily schedule posted each morning around 11:00 a.m. The sch-Edge-ule always has a joke of the day, riddle of the day, and afternoon read aloud. And there is more! Librarian Carlson posts a Which Craft? Wednesday program, he’s working on online Uno games, and is working with Austin Olney, aka Schmiegel, on putting together
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Teen Book Review: Sick Kids in Love

Below you'll find a book review of new or upcoming titles submitted by teens in the Edge. If you'd like to place a hold on the book being reviewed, click on the title or cover. Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz Review: Isabel meets Sasha in a hospital. They both have illnesses. From the start Sasha is blunt about his feelings for Isabel but she has a no dating policy. Its overall seeing them develop their relationship and how their families and illnesses affect them. At points Isabel was a little annoying too much but Sasha was sweet and
Read More

Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Life Hacks: Journaling

Erik‘s Life Hacks column gives teens advice on adulting. Journaling is a really great way to keep track of ideas, reminders, emotions, decisions, and goals. Keeping a journal will help you organize your life, relieve stress and remember important events. Here are some tips to get you started and things to write about: • Buy a cheap notebook, no need to make this an expense early on. • Keep it with you, or have it easily accessible. • Set time at the end of the day to write. It’s important to jot things down all throughout the day, but set
Read More

Categories: Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Con Edison Maker Camp for Teens

Our first School Break Mini-Camp held at the end of December was a great success. Teens worked with Ashley Perez (engineering major at the University of Buffalo), and Louis Grassi (student at White Plains High School). They worked on a variety of projects showing different ways of creating energy, from bio-fuels to solar panels and wind turbines to perpetual motion. Our second School Vacation Maker Camp—held February 18-21—will focus on Robotics. Teens will participate in a variety of no tech to hi tech activities that will teach basic skills in Engineering, Coding, Design Thinking, and Computational Thinking. Some of the
Read More

Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.

Book Reviews by Teens, for Teens

Below you'll find a book review of new or upcoming titles submitted by teens in the Edge. If you'd like to place a hold on the book being reviewed, click on the title or cover. Author: David Yoon Title: Frankly in Love Review: One of my favorite books of the year! It’s more than just a cute romance. It talks about race, a complicated family dynamic, academic standards and with humor as a plus. We get diverse characters throughout the book too! Everyone should read it! A 5 out of 5 star read. David Yoon has brilliant writing and I
Read More

Categories: Authors & Books, Library News, and Teens.

Maker Camp 2016

Teens, be part of Maker Camp 2016, a worldwide, online camp sponsored by Make: and Google. We meet every Wednesday starting July 13 at 2:00 p.m. Each week we will be working on a different project and then sharing photos and videos with other campers around the world. This summer's themes are: Things That Go, Mechanical Wonders, Way-out Sound, Sci-fi, Games and Farmstead. No registration, just pop-in for a session.
Read More

Categories: Classes, Technology, and Teens.

Summer TV Production Camp 2016

Our TV production camp is back with 2 sessions this summer that run from June 27-July 8, and August 8-August 18, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Students entering grades 6-9 in the Fall can come and learn all aspects of creating a short news segment for the Global Ambassadors REACT News station, and eat snacks while doing so. Taught by teachers from White Plains schools, students will learn how to write scripts, interview, film and edit a short video. Space is limited, visit the Library's calendar to sign your children up today.
Read More

Categories: Classes and Teens.

Allstate Safe Driving Open House for New Drivers

Join us on Saturday, April 23 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM for our next open house for new drivers. There will be information in English and Espanol for new drivers as well as performances by the White Plains High School Song Writers Club. Other clubs from the high school will be here with information on some of the projects they have been doing this school year. This program was funded by a grant from the Allstate Foundation to the White Plains Library Foundation.
Read More

Categories: Events and Teens.

Family Tinker Time

Saturday, January 16 from 1:00-3:00 PM We are inviting tinkerers, DIYers, and makers to come and use the equipment in The Edge-Media Lab with your family. This is a self-initiated learning and practice time, NOT a class. Some of the equipment available will be Arduino kits, Wacom tablets, video and audio editing equipment, 3D printers, CNC machine and sewing machines. If you have experience or would like to learn a little about these come in and bring your kids.
Read More

Categories: Events.

TV Production Camp with the Global Ambassadors

Teens from White Plains will spend two weeks learning the ins and outs of creating a short news clip for R.E.A.C.T. News. Students will learn how to research a story, write a script, interview, tell the story on camera, and edit. There will be a party on Thursday, August 20, at 12:00 PM, to see the news stories they created before they are posted online – all are welcome to the viewing. TV Production Camp is now full. But viewers can see the results on August 20.
Read More

Categories: Classes, Technology, and Teens.

Maker Camp: Explore + Make + Share

The Edge is an affiliate site for Maker Camp, a worldwide, online camp for makers, hosted by Make: magazine. We make a different craft each week following a theme and share our projects globally with other campers. We meet every Thursday at either 2:00 or 3:00 – just drop in. Projects can be a mix of crafts and technology, and are always fun!
Read More

Categories: Technology and Teens.